{"id":4937,"date":"2023-05-09T15:49:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T15:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/?page_id=4937"},"modified":"2025-05-21T18:15:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T18:15:32","slug":"vietnam-a-medics-journey","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/vietnam-a-medics-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Francis Whitebird&#8217;s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-background-size-large has-parallax has-aspect-ratio\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-media-card has-video\" >\n        \n                    <div class=\"responsive_embed\">\n                <div class=\"responsive_embed_inner\">\n                                        <iframe id=\"video_4177\"\n                    width=\"100%\"\n                    allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\n                            frameborder=\"0\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/player.pbs.org\/partnerplayer\/sIhEzHWqE25uHADrcD6j-A==\/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;endscreen=true\">\n                    <\/iframe>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                \n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-aspect-ratio has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h1 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#d3c8a8\" class=\"tadv-color\">VIETNAM<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">FRANCIS WHITEBIRD&#8217;S STORY<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-light-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#a4c8ec;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">FRANCIS WHITEBIRD&#8217;S STORY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">Performed by Gil Birmingham<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>2022 National Memorial Day Concert<\/em><br><em>underscore music from the National Symphony Orchestra<\/em><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#91816d;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-dark-gold-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-background-size-medium has-background-bottom-center-position has-parallax\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-white-color\">As the war escalated and the battles continued to rage, U.S. troop strength reached its peak in 1969 with more than 540,000 Americans serving in-country. No one was immune from the danger of combat \u2013 including medics who became full participants as treacherous guerrilla warfare unfolded all around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-white-color\">In the spring of 1969, Francis Whitebird, a newly trained combat medic from South Dakota, arrived in Vietnam. As a young warrior from a Lakota family with generations of military service, Francis served two tours in Vietnam, endured combat losses and saved lives, received a Purple heart, and forged bonds of friendship that have lasted a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col has-image has-background-size-large has-background-center-position has-aspect-ratio has-dark-gold-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#91816d;background-image:url('https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/NMDC_2022_Francis-Whitebird_Website_Photo-2_Blur.jpg');\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                                                <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#e1e7ec;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-light-gray-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-background-size-large has-background-center-position has-parallax has-aspect-ratio has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-media-card has-video\" >\n        \n                    <div class=\"responsive_embed\">\n                <div class=\"responsive_embed_inner\">\n                                        <iframe id=\"video_4151\"\n                    width=\"100%\"\n                    allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\n                            frameborder=\"0\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/player.pbs.org\/partnerplayer\/M0bsx2Qkx1pIma9hfm3taQ==\/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;endscreen=true\">\n                    <\/iframe>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                \n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-background-size-large has-aspect-ratio has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#d3c8a8\" class=\"tadv-color\">RHIANNON GIDDENS PERFORMS &#8220;COUNT ON ME&#8221;<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Honoring Vietnam Veteran, Francis Whitebird<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-darker-brown-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#6D5F4F;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-huge-font-size\">Vietnam Veterans Support &amp; Resources<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vva.org\/\">Vietnam Veterans Association<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vvmf.org\/\">Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vetcenter.va.gov\/\">Vet Center<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">&#8212;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-huge-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/past-stories\/\">Return to Past Stories<\/a><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":6174,"menu_order":84,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4937","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Francis Whitebird&#039;s Story - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Each year, the concert remembers the fallen and their grieving families. 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